Gillian Keegan, Chichester’s MP, met with the Chief Executive Officer of Southern Water, Ian McAulay and his senior executives on Friday last week to discuss ongoing concerns with wastewater entering Chichester Harbour. Also discussed were issues around planning and the work ongoing to improve capacity in the system with more new homes due to be built in the coming years.
The local MP extended the invitation to Chichester District Council Cabinet Members for the Environment and for Planning, Cllr. Penny Plant and Cllr. Susan Taylor respectively, as well as County Councillor, Mike Magill who represents the Bourne Division and, like Gillian, has been championing these issues since entering the post.
The meeting was designed, in part to learn more about the ongoing work of Southern Water to improve their performance and encourage a closer working relationship between the council and the company moving forward.
It was the MP’s second meeting on this issue in a matter of weeks, as at the end of 2020 she met with the CEO of the regulatory body, OFWAT, Rachel Fletcher, where the performance of Southern Water was discussed as well as the measures in place to encourage improvements.
Chichester’s MP said, “I am very grateful to Ian and his team for their time. It was good to hear that work is ongoing to both mitigate their environmental impacts and improve the overall system capacity. There is a huge amount more to do, and I hope this is the first of many meetings to ensure progress is made. Moving forward I will continue to work closely with the regulator, Environment Agency and Southern Water and press for closer cooperation between the council and the water company.”
Gillian is also due to meet with the Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, later this month along with other coastal MPs from the Solent region to collectively discuss the performance of Southern Water and look at the national approach to the issues faced in our area.
After the meeting Chief Executive Officer of Southern Water, Ian McAulay commented, “Partnership working is the best and most effective way to ensure a resilient water future for the people of Chichester and the wider region. Delivering water resilience in a climate crisis and across the multiple environments water exists in, demands that many parties and stakeholders have to work more closely together than ever before. Having proactive and constructive partners such as Gillian Keegan MP ensures that we hear and understand the priorities of residents and stakeholders and in turn they hear and understand those of a water utility. Together we can then take the most effective action. We therefore look forward to widening and deepening our cooperation with Gillian Keegan and all the stakeholders in the Chichester area.”
Cllr. Mike Magill, WSCC Bourne Division added, “I’m hugely grateful to Gillian for setting up this meeting. All of us in who live near the Chichester Harbour are deeply concerned by the ongoing wastewater pollution and its impacts on the environment. I will continue to work closely with Gillian and the community to push this agenda forward.”
